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About Our Work

Who We Are

Founded in 1975, Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) is the oldest and largest national organization that works to ordain women as priests, deacons and bishops into an inclusive and accountable Catholic church. WOC represents the 63-70 percent of US Catholics that support women’s ordination. WOC also promotes new perspectives on ordination that call for more accountability and less separation between the clergy and laity.

Our Vision

The collective vision of WOC is a Roman Catholic Church that affirms women’s gifts, responds by calling them to ministry and ordination, openly and actively supports women’s voices, and reflects the example of Jesus – welcoming all to the table.

We recognize and value all ministries that meet the spiritual needs of the People of God. We celebrate our diversity of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, language and symbol in our church community.

Our Mission

To advocate and pray for the ordination and the full equality of women in an inclusive and accountable Roman Catholic Church

Our Values

† Full and Equal Participation of Women: The Church, in fidelity to the gospel, must be open to the full and equal participation of women in all its ministries. We recognize a variety of ministries and we support ministries that meet the needs of the People of God.

†Grassroots Activism: We believe that real transformation in the Church will come from Catholics organizing in their local communities. We believe that providing educational resources will help empower and activate Catholics to foster change in the Church.

† Diversity, Inclusion & Racial Justice: We believe we have a responsibility to dismantle oppression within ourselves, our Church and our society. As the Body of Christ, we value diverse identities and inclusion on individual and organizational levels.

† Collective Decision Making: Decisions affecting the life of the Church must reflect the experience and opinions of women as well as men in a democratic spirit. We believe building consensus is a way to value each person’s insights and wisdom.

†Empowerment & Participatory Leadership: We believe all people should participate in making the decisions that affect them. We are certain the future of the church rests squarely on the knowledge, creativity, skills, leadership, and integrity of the whole church. Therefore, we advocate for church leadership to include the voices of all Catholics in decision making processes.

† Feminist, Mujerista and Womanist Thought and Action: The hierarchy must not define male and female “roles” or perpetuate any system that defines or limits one’s gifts or calling on the basis of gender.

†Social Justice: A renewed priesthood will rebirth the church and transform unjust structures in the world community. We will model non-violent behavior and act for a peaceful world that cherishes each human being, our Earth, and her resources.

Our Long-Range Goals

In order to fulfill our vision and mission, our Long-Range Goals are to:

† Reform the governance of the Catholic Church, including canon law, to be inclusive, accountable and transparent

† Bring about equality and justice for women in all dimensions of life and ministry in the Catholic Church